Lunera Lighting Inc., a Redwood City, CA-based manufacturer of LED lighting solutions introduced a financing program, Lunera Capital Plus (LCP), to reduce or eliminate the initial cost of LED lighting systems to qualified commercial customers. At the same time the company launched a utility rebate locator on its website (see Utility Rebates), which can reduce LED lighting hardware cost by up to 30 percent.

Financing commercial projects

"Traditional lighting accounts for up to 50 percent of energy consumption in commercial facilities. Many building owners are delaying investment in a LED lighting upgrade because of initial cost challenges,” commented Karen Owyeung, CEO of Lunera Lighting. “Lunera's LCP financing solutions remove the first cost of investing in LED lighting, enabling facility owners and tenants to pursue their growth objective of upgrading to LED lighting and lowering operating expenses," she said.

The first financing solution available through LCP is the Lunera Capital Lease, which can be used to finance the purchase and installation of the company’s fixtures plus control products. Throughout the term, the lessee can take accelerated tax depreciation and other tax benefits. When the term ends, the lessee owns the equipment.

Lunera provided the example of a $180,000 LED lighting system that is financed over 5 years. The monthly payment is $3698. Assuming energy savings of $25,921 in the first year, which rises to $31,507 by year 5, and maintenance savings of $18,580 in the first year, which also rises to $20,912 by year 5, the net savings is $126 in year 1, $1979 in year 2, $3914 in year 3, $5935 in year 4 and $8044 in year 5. After 60 months, the lighting becomes the property of the lessee and net savings continues to be realized.

Other leasing options

Commercial building owners have a variety of options when it comes to leasing LED lighting systems. For more information, see the article entitled “Demand-side economics speak in favor of LED lighting” by Matt Millman of Relamp LLC (Newark, NJ), which that ran in the April 2010 issue of LEDs magazine. In the article, Millman discussed the pros and cons of operating leases and capital leases, different payback methods, and the role of energy service companies in leasing.